Professor Toro: Old farm becomes new farm

Several years ago, Carmel mortgage broker Tom O'Meara embarked on an effort to take 360 acres of farmland on the outskirts of Fresno and turn it into an upscale golf course and housing development. He leveled parts of the property, put in infrastructure and started building model homes.

After creating just two holes of the golf course, however, O'Meara filed for bankruptcy and then he and a partner were accused of defrauding investors. O'Meara was sentenced to six-plus years in prison.

So what became of the land? In what may or may not be a sign of things to come, Fresno businessman Darius Assemi has purchased it and intends to turn it into — a farm.

Someday, it might become a housing tract, but its immediate future is to be covered by rows and rows of almond trees.

But first, Assemi will need to get the land rezoned — from residential to farming, something that doesn't happen every day.

Sign of the times

The Professor was in the Monterey courthouse the other day, strictly as an observer, when the display case outside the second-floor clerk's office caught her eye.

Half of the display case is devoted to pieces of paper issued by the court. The other half is reserved for tidings from the Monterey County Bar Association.

A bar flier with the headline "upcoming events" left a lot to be desired. The most recent event on the list occurred in December 2011. Another flier announced a retirement party for a retiring judge to be held in August 2011.

The professor would like to remind association members, in a language they understand, that tempus fugit.